A Deadly Secret

"Come stand behind me."

Di Yi had the Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter stand behind him and looked at the old man, who had no breath, no heartbeat, and not a trace of life.

"Roar!" Though the Golden Hou could see nothing, Di Yi had taken a battle stance, so it naturally had to put on a show as well. Golden light blazed around it, more dazzling than the radiance of the blazing sun.

Whoosh!

The old man with lifeless eyes flickered from east to west, evading Di Yi's gaze as he sought an opportunity to approach the Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter.

Yet he could not shake that gaze no matter what he did. However erratically he drifted, Di Yi locked onto him at once, leaving him no opening to approach her.

"Wooo..."

The old man began to whimper, sounding like wind sweeping through a narrow gorge.

At last, he stopped in one spot without any further gesture. His face looked carved from wood, and his hollow eyes stared straight at the Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter.

"Thank you, thank you..." The Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter, Lie Wan'er, had been utterly terrified. Now, seeing that the ghost dared not approach, she relaxed all over and hurriedly thanked him.

"It's nothing." Di Yi turned to look at the Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter, who hid behind him with only her little head peeking out. "Is he the ghost you were all screaming about earlier? Why is he following you?"

No breath, no heartbeat, not a trace of life-this stirred his interest. Perhaps such a peculiar life-form had an unusual origin.

After all, this was the Heaven Mending Pavilion, guarded by a Sacrificial Spirit that had survived since ancient times.

Since it allowed this ghost to exist, there was clearly a reason. He intended to ask about it before deciding whether to act.

"I don't know..." Lie Wan'er shook her head and briefly recounted the matter of the Elder Paranormal. She did not understand why such an eerie being would appear in the Heaven Mending Pavilion either.

"I see... Then let's wait until the people from the Heaven Mending Pavilion arrive." Di Yi nodded, then continued staring directly at the old man.

"Will... will this be dangerous?" Having been chased earlier, Lie Wan'er knew all too well how unfathomable the Elder Paranormal was. It seemed only those he targeted could see him.

Now, the man before her could see the Elder Paranormal, which meant he had been targeted too. This was no good sign.

Although she had come seeking help, she could not rest easy if she dragged someone else into danger.

"He certainly isn't much to look at, but that's about it." Di Yi indicated that there was no problem.

In that place that formed a world unto itself, terrifying sights occasionally appeared. By comparison, the old man actually looked fairly normal.

"But..." Lie Wan'er did not know what to say. One glance at that old man was enough to give someone nightmares in the middle of the night. Why did he not seem frightening at all to Di Yi?

"Perhaps... I could take a look with the true understanding?" Di Yi had studied the old man for a long while. The form of his existence kept striking him as strange, so he intended to use the power of the true understanding to analyze his origin.

Yet the instant he said this, heaven and earth changed abruptly. Wind and thunder rose from nowhere, and in the blink of an eye, the old man vanished.

At the same time, people from the Heaven Mending Pavilion rushed over from afar. Leading them was an old man holding a bright yellow gourd in his palm. He outpaced the sound of his passage through the air, approaching swiftly like a shooting star.

Many others followed him, all elders who had been cultivating in seclusion on the nearby spiritual mountains that housed important sites. They hurried over close behind.

Clearly, they took the Elder Paranormal's appearance in the Heaven Mending Pavilion extremely seriously. They even knew its implications and had no choice but to react swiftly.

Soon, the group reached them and landed before Di Yi's house.

"Elder Tao Ye!" Upon seeing the old man holding the bright yellow gourd, Lie Wan'er felt greatly reassured. She stepped out from behind Di Yi and hurried toward the Heaven Mending Pavilion's senior elders.

"Are you all right?" Tao Ye held the bright yellow gourd in his palm,

as though it could encompass heaven and earth, radiating a powerful, steady presence. "Thank you for your concern, Elder Tao Ye. I'm fine. The Elder Paranormal has already left." Lie Wan'er shook her head. Enveloped in the fluctuations emanating from the bright yellow gourd, she felt as though she had emerged from drowning, comfortable from head to toe.

"Thank you for lending a hand." Tao Ye reassured Lie Wan'er and motioned for her to go to the other elders for a thorough examination. Then he turned to Di Yi and cupped his hands.

"It's nothing. We're all fellow disciples, and I didn't really do anything." Di Yi returned the gesture, then asked, "What is that old man's background?"

"We aren't entirely sure, but supposedly he has existed since ancient times. He's a paranormal being that wanders the Heaven Mending Pavilion." Tao Ye did not know much about him either. Though he was a senior elder of the Heaven Mending Pavilion, he was not a man from ancient times, after all.

"He's been around for a long time?" Di Yi was somewhat surprised. "And the Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit just allows him to exist?"

"There are secrets involved. Shall we talk somewhere else?" Tao Ye suggested. This was not a place for such a conversation; even he was deeply wary.

"All right." Di Yi nodded. This indeed was not a suitable place to talk.

"Then I'll go reassure those youngsters. Tonight has been quite an ordeal." Elder Zhuo Yun read the situation well. He walked toward the Genius Camp disciples who were gradually turning back, along with those brave enough to return, and told them the matter was over.

"Is it really all over?" The Genius Camp disciples were still shaken. Some even asked the first person to have been targeted whether he could still see the Elder Paranormal.

"I can't see him anymore." The first person targeted naturally answered truthfully. After all, the Elder Paranormal really was gone.

"Go back and rest, everyone. You, come with me." Elder Zhuo Yun dismissed the crowd, then took the first person targeted back to the senior elders.

"Let's go to the Ancient Hall." Tao Ye moved his hand and raised the bright yellow gourd high. Wisps of chaos energy washed out from it as he led the group away.

Watching the large group depart, the Genius Camp disciples naturally felt relieved. After all, none of those targeted by the Elder Paranormal remained here, so they would not be dragged into it.

Although the matter had come to a temporary close, they did not simply put it behind them. Their minds were busy, all of them guessing at the Elder Paranormal's origins.

Besides that, those who had mustered the courage to return early were also wondering who that man was. They believed he could not be merely a disciple of the Heaven Mending Pavilion.

Even Elder Zhuo Yun was wary of the Elder Paranormal, yet that man had driven him off without doing anything. Anyone with a brain could tell he was no ordinary person.

"Is that the man Fifteenth Sister mentioned?" Among the crowd stood a girl with features as delicate as a porcelain doll. She watched Di Yi recede into the distance, her thoughts unknown.

Some distance from the Genius Camp, a hall stood atop a lofty mountain, with the imposing air of overlooking the wilderness and seeing all other mountains dwarfed beneath it.

This was the Heaven Mending Pavilion's Ancient Hall. Under normal circumstances, only matters of great importance were discussed here.

"Sit down, everyone. Make yourselves comfortable." An old man spoke. There was no time to arrange seats by precedence. The matter they were about to discuss was far from simple, and urgent circumstances called for flexibility.

Of course, another reason was that these senior elders held roughly equal standing, so there was no need for empty formalities.

"I... would rather stand." Lie Wan'er did not dare actually behave casually. Respecting seniority and distinguishing generations were matters of proper upbringing.

With Lie Wan'er taking that stance, the first person targeted also said he would stand. He knew his place very well.

"It's fine. Sit down, both of you. You've been frightened for so long; standing won't do your bodies any good." Tao Ye held a high position, and at his urging, both obediently sat down.

"This place is rather nice. It's so bright without any lamps." Compared with the two Heaven Mending Pavilion disciples, Di Yi was much more casual. He had none of those worldly conventions and clicked his tongue in wonder as he studied the Ancient Hall's interior decorations.

Even a cursory glance revealed all manner of unusual stones inside the Ancient Hall. They emitted rosy light, illuminating the place far better than lamps ever could.

There were also primordial precious bones within the Ancient Hall. They all seemed to be fine Treasure Tools, with runes flowing over them as they fortified this place and cast out strand after strand of divine radiance.

"Uh..." Tao Ye and the other senior elders did not know how to answer. If they had not known Di Yi was genuinely marveling, anyone would have taken his words as mockery.

Yet even knowing his wonder was genuine, the atmosphere abruptly cooled. There was no easy way to pick up that topic. How were they supposed to continue?

"Ahem... You were the first to see the Elder Paranormal, weren't you? Your name is Cheng Ji, if I remember correctly. How did you discover him?" After clearing his throat, Tao Ye looked at the first person targeted.

"I saw him when I opened my eyes." Cheng Ji gave a detailed account of how he had encountered the Elder Paranormal.

"A gale sprang up out of nowhere?" Tao Ye frowned, then looked at the other senior elders. "Has there ever been such an omen before?"

"Never." The Heaven Mending Pavilion's senior elders all shook their heads.

"Then that's strange. By rights, the several-hundred-year interval isn't over yet, and the Hundred Broken Mountains won't open again for another few decades. Why has the Elder Paranormal come out to cause trouble now?" Tao Ye pondered. He felt it must be connected to that gale that had risen from nowhere.

"Was there anything unusual before the gale began?" a senior elder asked.

"Unusual?" Cheng Ji thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing unusual. If I had to name something, I think I saw an Everlasting Statue."

"An Everlasting Statue?" Another senior elder looked uncertain and alarmed. "Are you sure?"

"Not... entirely." Cheng Ji did not sound very certain. "Perhaps it was something from my dreams, and the Elder Paranormal frightened me so badly that I mistook it for reality."

"I see..." Tao Ye pondered, but soon said solemnly, "That isn't important. What matters is that you must prepare yourselves. Every time the Elder Paranormal appears, he has a purpose, and that purpose is always the same. Do you want to survive?"

"Elder, please don't frighten us. Just what is that Elder Paranormal?" Lie Wan'er immediately grew tense at his words.

"Don't be afraid of what I'm about to tell you, because... being afraid won't help." Tao Ye said, "The Elder Paranormal actually has a very long history in the Heaven Mending Pavilion. From ancient times until now, not a single person he has targeted has survived."

"What?!" Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji cried out in shock.

This truly was a deadly secret. They did not want to die yet.

"Not a single one survived?" Hearing this, Di Yi also pricked up his ears. "Is that ghost so overbearing? Then I'll find some time to deal with him."

"Uh..." Tao Ye was momentarily speechless.

"The Elder Paranormal isn't so easy to deal with," a senior elder said. "It isn't as though no one in ancient times ever considered taking him on. But none succeeded, and instead, the trouble only grew worse. Even our Sacrificial Spirit disapproves of us attacking him."

"Why?" Di Yi asked.

"The exact reason is unknown, but presumably the Elder Paranormal originated from the Heaven Mending Pavilion. Otherwise, the Sacrificial Spirit wouldn't let him stir up trouble again and again like this." Finding an opening, Tao Ye continued the explanation.

"But that still isn't right, is it? People die every time he causes a disturbance." Di Yi did not quite understand the Heaven Mending Pavilion's approach.

"Actually... no one has truly died by his hand." Tao Ye shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

"The Elder Paranormal targets people only because he wants to recover his sword. He actually bears no ill intent. It's just that he's too frightening. If they keep refusing to go, he comes knocking every night, and over time..."

"They get frightened to death?"

"Uh, you could put it that way. Of course, more of them died because they attacked the Elder Paranormal themselves, unable to endure the torment. The result was unsurprising: they all perished."

"I see. I understand a little now. Indeed, that sword is stuck in his forehead. Pulling it out would... But isn't that entrapment?"

"We thought so at first too. But after going through it many times, we learned the truth. That sword belongs to the Elder Paranormal's enemy. His own sword is in the Hundred Broken Mountains."

"What? The Hundred Broken Mountains?!" Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji instantly went pale.

They had originally thought it was merely a matter of finding a sword. What could be so difficult about that? Lie Wan'er in particular had felt she could simply call on her family's resources.

But now, hearing that the sword they had to find was in the Hundred Broken Mountains, both were horrified. They instantly lost all hope for the future, left with only the bitterness of waiting for death.

"The Hundred Broken Mountains? What's wrong with them?" Di Yi did not understand why Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji had suddenly become so dejected.

To him, it was only a mountain range. Though it might be vast, the Elder Paranormal's sword was surely distinctive, so finding it should not be difficult.

"That place... saw the saints shed tears and spill blood. It's an ill-omened land. From ancient times to the present, people have died there in wave after wave." Lost in a daze, Lie Wan'er answered instinctively.

"That was indeed the case in ancient times, but times have changed. The place is different now," Tao Ye said.

"What's going on?" Di Yi was left in a fog by their explanation. "So can people go there or not?"

"They can. There are great opportunities there now. Not only do the great ancient families of the human race send their descendants there, even pureblood creatures do the same." Tao Ye glanced at Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji. "It's just... he has appeared at the wrong time."

"Because it isn't time for the Hundred Broken Mountains to open yet?" Lie Wan'er felt bitter. As the Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter, how could she not know about that place?

"Then all that talk amounted to nothing." Di Yi was speechless. "I don't think there's any need to say more. I'll deal with him."

"Roar!" Sensing Di Yi's tone, the Golden Hou roared in agreement.

"Well... perhaps we should consider this carefully?" Tao Ye knew Di Yi's spirit and body were powerful, but his attainments in Precious Techniques and runes were only at the pinnacle of blood moving.

Moreover, he had a feeling that the Elder Paranormal might not dare seek out Di Yi. They might end up with Di Yi safe and sound while the entire Heaven Mending Pavilion suffered.

"It's fine. Let him come." Di Yi rose and declared the matter settled, telling Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji to stay by his side.

"Well... all right." After discussing it with the other senior elders, Tao Ye agreed to Di Yi's proposal. Then he drew him aside and told him everything the Heaven Mending Pavilion knew about the Elder Paranormal.

"Lie Wan'er, Cheng Ji, come here for a moment." At the same time, Elder Zhuo Yun took Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji aside and told them a few things as well.

"Elder Zhuo Yun, that man... what is his background?" Lie Wan'er was very curious about Di Yi. Anyone who could converse with the Heaven Mending Pavilion's senior elders like this hardly seemed to be an actual disciple.

"Don't concern yourselves with that. Just remember: if the Elder Paranormal appears again, run to him. We may not have a way to deal with it, but he just might." Elder Zhuo Yun warned them. They should learn what they ought to know and refrain from asking too much about what they should not.

"Understood, Elder." Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji nodded.

"All right, that's settled. I have a good idea of the situation with that ghost now." After finishing the conversation, Di Yi rose and bade farewell to the Heaven Mending Pavilion's senior elders.

"I'll take you back." Elder Zhuo Yun stepped forward at the right moment.

Over the next few days, following Elder Zhuo Yun's warnings and instructions, Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji frequently returned to Di Yi's residence to cultivate, sometimes trying to grow closer to him, sometimes chatting to relieve their boredom.

At first, it seemed the matter of the Elder Paranormal had passed just like that. Several days went by without the old man appearing again, and Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji both breathed long sighs of relief.

Yet the good times did not last.

Seemingly wary of Di Yi's presence, the Elder Paranormal no longer pestered Lie Wan'er and Cheng Ji. But one day, he suddenly appeared again.

Only this time, the place he harassed was no longer the Genius Camp but the ordinary disciples' residences, causing a considerable disturbance.

And this was only the beginning. Whenever Di Yi went to the scene of an incident, the Elder Paranormal would choose another target. In the end, more than half the Heaven Mending Pavilion knew no peace.

"He's playing hide-and-seek with me!" Di Yi was helpless too. The Elder Paranormal was far too skilled at making trouble, his whereabouts erratic and elusive. Di Yi could not keep everyone he targeted by his side; that was impractical.

After all, nothing like this had ever been considered when the Genius Camp was first planned. Its capacity topped out at five thousand, while more than half the Heaven Mending Pavilion amounted to far more than five thousand people.

"This can't go on. In a Heaven Mending Pavilion this vast, he really can keep hiding if he wants to." Di Yi felt they could not continue handling the matter this way. He had no fear of a fight, but asking him to find someone with his current rune attainments was a bit much.

In the end, he sought out Tao Ye.

At this moment, Tao Ye was also overwhelmed. Just as he had expected, the matter had become a major problem.

If this continued, the entire Heaven Mending Pavilion would know no peace. Never mind cultivating with a tranquil mind-even normal life would become a thing of the past.